Carriers have long been known to the art and are available in many different configurations. For example, infant carriers have been fabricated from a flexible fabric and comprise a carrier panel terminating at one end in a tail portion which serves as a sling tie. Buckle rings may be secured to the other end of the carrier panel and the rings function in concert with the tail portion to secure the ends of the panel together and in an adjustable fashion to provide the sling. The sling is formed by passing the tail portion through both of the buckle rings and doubling the tail portion back over one ring and under the other in a conventional fashion. Buckle rings may have serrations along the inner diameter thereof in order to increase the frictional force holding the tail portion in the rings. Many infant sling carriers include padded side rails extending from end to end of the carrier panel and a pillow portion secured to the carrier panel adjacent to the end bearing the buckle rings to provide additional comfort to the infant and the person wearing the sling. While infant carrier slings are effective and convenient for carrying infants, problems securing the carrier panel have been encountered. In particular, the tail portion of the sling may accidentally slip through the buckle rings thereby undoing the slip. This type of mishap can cause great harm to an infant.
Another type of carrier is a child-supporting harness, known in the practice, which is constructed to support the child on the chest-side of the wearer. The harness includes a bag-like support which is firmly joined to two loop harness straps, one for each shoulder, over substantially the whole of its vertical extension on the rear side of the bag. The bag includes leg openings through which the legs of the child extend at the bottom of the bag, and the bag can be opened at one or both sides of the bag in order to enable a child to be placed easily in and removed from the bag. The looped straps have openable locking devices in the region where the straps are joined to the bottom part of the bag, and means are provided whereby the length of the straps can be adjusted. Although this device may securely support a child, the child is positioned such that breast-feeding is difficult if not impossible. Moreover, this carrier does not provide for easy storage capabilities. Furthermore, the child may not be readily transferred out of the carrier if the child is asleep without waking the child.
Consequently, a need has developed for a portable carrier which securely supports an animate object while providing for easy transfers into and out of the carrier and easy storage capabilities.